In a world of mass communications dominated by social media, where the truth is easily twisted, student Matthew Knoke has a dream to be a beacon of light, guiding others to what is real.

“The discovery of truth — I always want to challenge myself to go above and beyond no matter if those things that I learn one day go completely against what I believe in,” the senior communications major says.

“I want to go into journalism to discover that and to discover what the truth is, and help others to discover that as well.”

Knoke’s journey to pursue his passion for journalism developed after receiving an associate’s degree and working a full-time job for a time. Work mentors encouraged him to follow his dreams.

“They said, ultimately, you have to love what you do and then you won’t work a day in your life, and that was something I really took from them,” Knoke says.

Finances are always a concern. “Every day, I look at my checking account balance and my loan balance and I’m like, ‘Ok this number keeps going up,’ and how am I going to pay this off?”

Receiving a scholarship has been not only helpful to reduce the amount of loans Knoke will take out, but it gave him a motivational boost.

“After I received the award, it was like a pat on the back for doing a good job,” he says.

“I shared (the news) right away —  social media is a big thing nowadays, so every congrats got down to the bottom of my emotions — to see that everyone wants the same goal and that is for people to chase their passion, and receiving this scholarship allowed me to do that.”